De

pictura (English:
"On Painting") is a
treatise or
commentarii
written by the
Italian humanist
and artist Leon
Battista Alberti.
The first version,
composed in Latin
in 1435, was not
published until
1450. It is one of
his three treatises
on art, the others
two are De
statua and De re
aedificatoria, that
would form the
 Renaissance
concept for the
fine arts: painting,
sculpture, and
architecture.

Contents
 1Context
 2Work
o 2.1Contents
 o 2.2Approach
 3Influence
 4Bibliography
o 4.1Editions
o 4.2Translations
and critical
editions
 5References
Context[edit]

Alberti was a
member
of Florentine famil
y exiled in the
14th century, who
was able to return
in Florence only
from 1434, in the
following of the
Papal court during
the Council of
Florence. Here he
knew
contemporary art
innovators such
as Filippo
Brunelleschi, Don
atello and Masacc
io, with whom he
shared an interest
for Renaissance
humanism and
classical art.
Alberti was the
first post-classical
writer to produce
a work of art
theory, as
opposed to works
about the function
of religious art or
art techniques,
and reflected the
developing Italian
Renaissance
art of his day.
Artist, architect,
poet and
philosopher, Leon
Battista Alberti
revolutionized the
history of art with
his theories of
perspective in On
Painting (1435).
Inspired by the
order and beauty
inherent in nature,
his
groundbreaking
work sets out the
principles of
distance,
dimension and
proportion;
instructs the
painter on how to
use the rules of
composition,
representation,
light and colour to
create work that is
graceful and
pleasing to the
eye; and
stipulates the
moral and artistic
pre-requisites of
the successful
painter. On
Painting had an
immediate and
profound
influence on
Italian
Renaissance
artists including
Ghiberti, Fra
Angelico and
Veneziano and on
later figures such
as Leonardo da
Vinci, and
remains a
compelling theory
of art.
Work[edit]
Contents[edit]

Book I: a simple
introduction for
young boys, in
preparation for
studying painting [1]
Book II: a survey
of types of
painting for
teenage trainees
in a workshop [1]

Book III: advice to

the adult painter
on how to perfect
his skill [1]
Approach[edit]
Further
information: Math
ematics and art
De pictura aimed
to describe
systematically the
figurative arts
through
"geometry".
Alberti divided
painting into three
parts:
 Circumscriptio (I
talian: disegno),
consisting in
drawing the
bodies' contour
 Compositio (co
mmensuratio in
the Italian
 version of the
treatise),
including tracing
the lines joining
the bodies
 Receptio
luminum (color),
taking into
consideration
colors and light.
The treatise
contained an
analysis of all the
techniques and
painting theories
known at the time,
in this surpassing
medieval works
such as The book
of Art by Cennino
Cennini (1390). D
e pictura also
includes the first
description of
linear geometric
perspective
around 1416;
Alberti credited
the discovery
to Brunelleschi,
and dedicated the
1435 edition to
him. [2]

Alberti argued
that multi-figure
history painting
was the noblest
form of art, as
being the most
difficult, which
required mastery
of all the others,
because it was a
visual form of
history, and
because it had
the greatest
potential to move
the viewer. He
placed emphasis
on the ability to
depict the
interactions
between the
figures by gesture
and expression. [3][4]

De pictura relied
heavily on
references to art
in classical
literature; in
fact Giotto's
huge Navicella in
mosaic at Old St.
Peter's Basilica in
Rome (now
effectively lost)
was the only [citation

needed]
 modern
(post-classical)
work described in
it. [5]

Influence[edit]

The accurate
perspective
in Leonardo da
Vinci's paintings
such as
his Annunciation (14
75–1480)
epitomizes the
construction
described in
Alberti's De pictura.
De
pictura influenced
the work of artists
including Donatell
o, Ghiberti, Bottic
elli,
and Ghirlandaio.   [6]

His treatment
of perspective wa
s the most
influential of his
recommendations
, being powerfully
implemented
by Leonardo da
Vinci, and through
him to the whole
Italian
renaissance. [7]

Alberti made at
least 29 uses
of Pliny the
Elder's Natural
History, deriving
his key themes of
simplicity and
seriousness
directly from
Pliny. For
example, Alberti
advised artists to
use colour with
restraint, and to
paint in the effect
of gold rather than
using actual gold
in their paintings.
Gold did indeed
vanish from Italian
paintings of the
second part of the
15th century.
Artists however
found their own
ways to paint with
restraint, rather
than following
Alberti's actual
instructions
directly. Similarly,
he encouraged
artists to add
black when
modelling shapes,
rather than only
adding white
as Cennino
Cennini had
advised in his
c. 1390 Il Libro
dell'Arte. This
advice had the
effect of making
Italian
renaissance
paintings more
sombre. Alberti
was here perhaps
following Pliny's
description of the
dark varnish used
by Apelles. [7][8]